William gray



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. GRAY. COIN GONTROLLED APPARATUS FORTELEPHONES.

No 426,266. Patented Apr. 22,1896.

WI 1 i i \W @125 ib'SWVW (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. GRAY. COINCONTROLLED APPARATUS FOR TELBPHONES. No. 426,266. Patented Apr. 22,1890.

(WWW! w gxwmoawflvfl v W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

XVILLIAM GRAY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLESSOBY, OF SAME PLACE.

COIN-CONTROLLED APPARATUS FOR TELEPHONES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,266, dated April22, 1890.

Application filed August 12, 1889. Serial No. 320,449. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: there is provided a signal device g, that inBe it known that I, ILLIAM GRAY, of the form shown in the drawingsconsists Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of the bells g g,that are located for conof Connecticut, have invented certain newvenience in a signal-box g, arranged on 5 and useful Improvements inCoin-Controlled top of the battery-box. The top of this sig- Apparatusfor Telephones, of which the folnal-box has an opening, along the frontedge lowing is a full, clear, and exact description, of which isarranged a sound deflector h, whereby any one skilled in the art canmake adapted to reflect the sound of the signal deand use the same. vicemore directly against the diaphragm of m The object of my invention isto provide a the transmitter. The hammer z of the bell, telephoneapparatus, that usually consists of that in thedrawings is the commonform of the telephone, magneto-bell, and transmitter, gong-bell having apush-button, is held with means of enabling any one who wishes against astriking movement by the arm j of to use the telephone to call thecentral ofiice the signal-locking lever j, that is pivotally I 5 in theusual manner, and at the same time supported 011 the back board and isheld in a enable the operatorat the central office to normal positionbetween a spring j" and the learn Whether the fee or toll required forthe stop 9' The lower end of the lever j is use of the telephone hasbeen paid before the rounded and is arrangedin the path ofmoveconnection asked for is made, and thus to ment of one end of thetumbler 75. This tum- 20 control and compel the payment of the fee bleris held in a substantially horizontal poor toll before the connectionsdesired are sition, preferably by gravity, with its end it made.projecting either into a coin'channel or across To this end my inventionconsists in the its lower end in such manner as to prevent novelconstruction and combination of parts, the passage of a coin out of thechannel until 25 as will be hereinafter fully described, and the tumblerhas been tilted out of the way. especially as the same is particularlypointed The tumbler has a certain play between its out and distinctlyclaimed. normal horizontal position and the point Referring to thedrawings, Figure 1 is a side where it engages the arm of thelocking-lever. view of a set of telophone-instruments with The tumblerhas a cam 71;, that, when the 0 part of the signal-box broken away toshow tumbler has been tilted a short distance by construction. Fig. 2 isa detail view of the the weight of a coin, lies in the path of movebackboard, showing part of the mechanism. ment of a pin or like projectionon a slide- Fig. 3 is a detail view in vertical section rod Z. Thisslide-rod is mounted in bearings through the signal-box 011 plane 0c 00of Fig. 1. Z, and is held in this forward position by 35 Fig. 4 is adetail side view of the signal-lockmeans of a spring Z, that thrustsagainst one ing lever. Fig. 5 is a detail top view of the of thebearings at one end and against a colslide-rod and on enlarged scale.Fig. 6 is a lar Z that is secured to the rod. This collar detail view,on enlarged scale, of the lower serves as a stop to limit the forwardmoveend of the coin-channels of the tumbler, and ment of the rod bycoming in contact wit-h 40 of the locking-levers, illustrating theoperaone of the bearings. Opposite the outer end tion of the device. ofthe rod there is preferably secured a stop In the accompanying drawings,the letter a Z, that limits the backward movement of the denotes a setof telephone-instruments, b the rod, that has a limited sliding playbetween back board, 0 the magneto-bell, (Z the telethe end stop and thatformed by the collar 45 phone, 0 the transmitter, and f the battery andbearing. Except when the tumbler has box, that are of the usual form andconstrucreceived an initial movement from a coin the tion and joined upin any ordinary manner motion of the slide-rod does not affect the foruse. In addition to these usual parts tumbler nor the signal-lockingmechanism;

but as soon as the cam on the tumbler is moved into the path of a pin orlug m on the sliderod Z the tumbler is thrown far enough by thismovement of the slide-rod to bring the tumbler into contact with thelower end of the locking-lever in such manner as to throw the latterto-one side a sufficient distance to unlock the signal device. In thisinstance it is the hammer of the bell that is liberated by the sidewisemovement of the arm 7" of the locking-lever.

The slide-rodl is operated from the outside of the box by means of thearmrest n, that is pivotally supported on the back board and has an armn, that projects toward and engages the slide-rod. This is preferablyoperated by placing the elbow on the pad n and pushing downward afterhaving placed a coin in the coin-channel o, and by this means giving aninitial movement to the tumbler.

My invention may be embodied as illus trated in the apparatus shown inthe drawings and hereinbefore described when a bell is used as a signaldevice; but it is obvious that any sound-producing device may be used inplace of the bell with precisely the same result, provided such signaldevice can be located and locked so as to prevent its use except whenreleased.

The object of providing more than one signal device and coin-controlledsignal-locking device is to arrange the apparatus so that two or moredifferent tollsmay be paid. For instance, the charge for the use of thetelephone within a certain circuit may be ten cents, in which instanceone coin-channel and a signal of acertain kind or tone will be used inconnection with it, while for a larger or more extended circuit atoll-of twenty-five cents may be charged, in which case a separatecoinchannel, signal device, and signallocking mechanism is provided, thesignal being either difierent in kind or different in tone from thatprovided for the other toll. In case a third amount is required as tollit may be fixed as the sum of the other two, in which case coins can beintroduced in both channels and both signals sounded, so as to informthe operator at the central ofiice that the tolls have been paid. a

My invention is obviously not limited to any particular form or kind ofsignal device nor any special form of signal-locking mechanism norprecise combinationof parts in the coin-operated mechanism, as other andequivalent mechanism and means may be combined and employed in a similarmanner for pro dueing the same result.

Themethod of using my improved apparatus is as follows: A person Wishingto use the telephone calls the central office in the usual manner, talkswith the operator, and asks that a certain connection may be made. Theoperator at the central office asks the user of the telephone to drop acoin into the proper channel and then push down with his elbow on thearm-rest, and then to strike the signal that has been released by thismeans, and the striking of such signal notifies the operator that thetoll has been paid. This enables the would-be user of the telephone toascertain whether he can communicate with the person or station requiredbefore he pays any toll for the use of the wire. As soon as the userlifts his arm'the slide-rod is thrown forward by the spring, lifting thearmrest and at the same time allowing the tumblers to drop into suchposition that the cam borne on the tumbler is out of the path ofmovement of the pin on the rod. This sets the device so that the signaldevice is at once looked and cannot be released except by the payment ofanother toll.

It is obvious that in the practice of my invention there may be used oneor as many more as may be need ed of the coin-channels adapted for coinsof different sizes,each of such channels being appurtenant to asignallocking device and a signal device.

No claim is made in this application for these means and combinationsthereof, as the same form the subject-matter of another pendingapplication for Letters Patent by me, being Serial No. 334,347, filedDecember 20, 1889. 1

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with a telephone apparatus, asignal device, a lever having an arm interposed between the signal andits tappet, and coin=-controlled levers for moving the interposed armfrom between the signal and the tappet, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

2. In combination with a telephone appa rat-us, a signal device normallylocked, the locking-lever, the tumbler adapted to engage the arm of thelever and with one end proj ecting into or across the coin-channel, thecoin-channel, and the means for tilting the tumbler and holding ittemporarilyin afixed position, all substantially as described.

3. In combination with a transmitter of a telephone apparatus, a signaldevice located adjacent tothe transmitter, the signal-locking lever, thetumbler with one end projecting into a coin-channel, the coin-channel,and the tumbler-retainin g device, all substantially to described.

4. In combination with the transmitter e of a telephone apparatus, thesignal device g, located adjacent to the transmitter and thesound-deflector h, the signal-locking mechanism, and the coin-controlleddevice for releasing the signal, all substantially as described.

5. In combination with a telephone apparatus, the signal-bell g, havinga hammer 2', the signal-locking lever j, with the arm j, normallylocated in the path of movement of the hammer in striking, and alsohaving an arm j, located in the path of movement of a means for movingthe slide-rod and retaining tumbler k, the tumbler 7c, having a cam 70',it in its backward position, all substantially 1c normally out of thepath of movement of a as described. tumbler-Operating slide, and havingalso a part projecting into the path of movement of WILI GRAY a coin,the coin-channel, and a slide rod hav- Vitnesses: ing aprojeeting pinadapted to engage the CHAS. L. BURDETT, 0am on the tumbler, and thelever or like CHARLES SOBY.

